We go through a lot of bread at my house. Jelly toast, peanut butter toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, fried egg sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches...well, you get the picture.
For many years, we have eaten 100% whole wheat bread. But it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I actually read the ingredients on that loaf of 100% bread. I gasped, right in the middle of the grocery store, "High Fructose Corn Syrup...in bread!". I started to look at the labels of every brand of 100% whole wheat bread and I saw 'high fructose corn syrup' in the ingredients of almost all of the brands, except for two and they were priced at least $2 more than the "HFCS" loaves.
Since we try to avoid as much as possible processed sugar ingredients, I made the switch to the more expensive bread. Aside from the occasional sale, I cringed every time I bought them too.
Normally I don't shop at more than one store per week, but I checked out the bread/bakery outlet near my daughter's school and I was very pleased. I found the non-HFCS loaves of 100% whole wheat bread marked at $1.50. That is about $2.50 less than my grocery store. And since it really isn't out of my way, I don't mind making a separate trip.
My bread/bakery outlet also has English Muffins, sandwich thins, flat bread, kaiser rolls, hamburger rolls, hotdog rolls, tortillas, baked goods, snack foods and more at prices of 50% off or more off the grocery store price.
The only caveat is that you need to check the expiration date. I have noticed the expiration date on the bread is usually within a few days, so I take the loaves home and put them in our freezer right away. I just take out what I need and I have never had a problem.
A handy trick when thawing the bread is to wrap what you need in a cloth napkin and microwave for 10 seconds. If it isn't thawed after 10 seconds add another 5-10 seconds. The bread/rolls shouldn't dry out if you wrap in a cloth napkin.
Do you shop at bread/bakery outlets? What kind of deals do you find?
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I used to shop at the bakery outlet, but now I make my own whole wheat bread. It doesn't take as much time as I was worried it would, most of the time is for rising and I just do other things while I wait for the bread to rise. I also make pizza dough, cinnamon bread, whole wheat hamburger buns, rolls, etc. I'm pretty sure it's cheaper to make than even the outlet prices, but for me it's knowing what's in it and how fresh it is because I'm the one who made it. This won't work for everyone, I'm sure, but I'm glad I have the time to do it.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally shop the outlets here, and really like their punch cards (spend $50, get $5 free) so I usually spend in increments of $5 to take advantage of the punch card.
ReplyDeleteI used to make my own bread until my bread machine died. I suppose I could still do it the old fashioned way, lol, or get a new machine.